The Saints That Serve Podcast

Episode 61 - Thanksgiving Around The World

Saints That Serve Season 2 Episode 61

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- Tune in every Monday for a new episode of "The Saints That Serve Podcast" -

Discover how Thanksgiving is celebrated around the world from America’s classic turkey day to Japan’s Labor Thanksgiving, Canada’s October holiday, Germany’s Erntedankfest, Brazil’s Day of Grace, Korea’s Chuseok, and more. We explore the history, traditions, and faith behind global gratitude, and what these celebrations can teach us about our own hearts.

We also look at American traditions like the Macy’s Parade, football, the National Dog Show, and the rise of online Black Friday shopping. As Christian hosts, we share why gratitude is more than a holiday - it’s worship, discipleship, and a way to resist materialism and hurry.

Stick around for personal thanksgiving reflections, encouragement for your family, and an invitation to share what God has done in your life this year. Comment where you’re listening from and what you’re thankful for!

#thanksgiving #thanksgivingtraditions #thanksgivingaroundtheworld #globalthanksgiving #christianthanksgiving #christianpodcast #thanksgivinghistory #erntedankfest #chuseok #canadianthanksgiving #japanlaborthanksgiving #brazildayofgrace #gratitude #biblebasedpodcast #faithandthanksgiving #holidaytraditions #macysparade #blackfriday #saintsthatserve 

If you want to send us a question or a comment you can by texting us by clicking this link!

Welcome And Theme Of Gratitude

SPEAKER_08

Welcome to the Saints That Serve podcast, where each week your hosts dive into the crossroads of faith, culture, and the unknown. Christ is Lord, and the kingdom is now. We are the Saints that serve.

Listener Thanks And Prayer Invitation

SPEAKER_07

You name it! Episode 61, where we are thankful. Thank you. Thank you. We are thankful for you, our listeners. And because we're thankful for you and for our families and the lives that the Lord has blessed us with, we decided to talk about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. I'm your host, Jarriss. And I'm your host, Johnny. That is the Saints That Serve podcast, where we talk about everything. Really?

SPEAKER_08

That's where, yeah. We've kind of yeah, we talk about everything. All topics are on the table except for the ones that aren't. That's right. If they don't fit on the table, if they're too big, we we do have a small table, so yeah. So but real estate up here. So when we eat for Thanksgiving, we won't have as much food because the table is small. You know what we will have? What's that?

SPEAKER_00

Beans, creams, potatoes, tomatoes, lamb, we'll have can we acknowledge that she said lamb?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. Just saying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08

Anyways, uh like it's crazy how that song has become an anthem for Thanksgiving because she was up there giving a message and then somebody songified it.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. Well, because she lists all the trimmings that any southerner uses for any formal meal, but the rest of the country uses for Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_03

Chicken, turkey, chicken, turkey.

SPEAKER_07

But um, yeah, our announcement is that if we're thankful for you. We're thankful for you. If you need prayer, we pray for our listeners every Friday. So reach out to us. If you need prayer for anything, you can message us through whatever social media or you can email us. That's saints at serve at gmail.com. Or there is a link at the bottom of the description of this episode where you can direct message us. And I gotta, I want to add on to that.

SPEAKER_08

Okay. If you are, you know, if you I mean, we all need prayer, but if you feel like you also, on top of, want to, you know, let us know what we need to pray for you about, let us know what you want to thank God for. Hey. In the comment section, you know, how has God blessed you? How has God brought you through tough times? Yeah. How has God been God for you? Yeah, that's good. I like that. So in the comments, or in if you want to message it to us as well, we'll take it. But we'll probably read those out loud. Yeah.

Setting The Topic: Thanksgiving

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. We yeah, we will. So if you haven't figured out, our topic tonight is Christmas.

SPEAKER_08

We're talking about Memorial Day. We have not done a St. Patrick's Day episode. So here we go. We actually have, though. Oh, yeah. Anyways, no, we're talking about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Uh, also, uh, something else I'm thankful for. Tyler. I'm thankful for Tyler. So, Tyler, this is your transition into Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_07

Yes. You know what? No, no, we are thankful for transition, Tyler. We are. And Tyler, this is your transition into the main topic of Thanksgiving.

Epcot Idea And Global Angle

SPEAKER_08

That's right. So we did have a Thanksgiving episode last year.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, we talked about the Puritans.

SPEAKER_08

Kind of the history of Thanksgiving in general. The very first Thanksgiving. The very first Thanksgiving. And I brought it to you. I'm like, you know what we should do? I said, let's do Thanksgiving around. Epcot style. Epcot style. What does Epcot stand for? Uh I don't know. You tell me. I I knew this answer because at my wedding shower that your family threw for me, this was like one of the trivia questions, and like I was one of like three people who knew it.

SPEAKER_07

I go to Epcot for the food and for the ride that's inside the ball.

SPEAKER_08

Oh, yeah, that's it. Yeah, the spaceshipper. Oh, yeah. That's it. Experimental prototype community of tomorrow. Oh. Epcot.

SPEAKER_07

There you go.

SPEAKER_08

Yep. I know things. I'm smart. But, anyways, so I brought it to you of let's do Thanksgiving around the world. And you said nobody else celebrates Thanksgiving. And then the next day you called me, like, yeah, we gotta do this because apparently people celebrate Thanksgiving.

When Do Thanksgivings Happen?

SPEAKER_07

Well, yeah, right after I was like, wait a minute, I know people in Canada, and Canada has their own Thanksgiving. And they celebrate it in like September or October.

SPEAKER_08

So that's something I want to say when before we start talking about these different, you know, country traditions, not all of the world's Thanksgiving falls in the same time.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, it's not on the fourth uh Thursday of November. Or third. Fourth or third. Fourth or third. Fourth or third, somewhere around there.

SPEAKER_08

What is the what is the stipulation or the criteria for it to be Thanksgiving? It just the last Thursday of the month?

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, I think it's supposed to be like the like well, I I don't know. I don't know what it is. Great. What is our first I think it's I don't know. I don't have an answer for you.

SPEAKER_08

Hold on. Let's just pull up a calendar real quick.

SPEAKER_07

But real quick, when it comes to Thanksgiving in America, because we've got different traditions that we practice, right? So there's an article on kid national kids.national geographics. What do you think the first thing listed as a tradition for Thanksgiving on kids.national geographics? I'm gonna say playing football. No. I'll give you two more guesses.

SPEAKER_08

Watching football. No. Eating turkey.

SPEAKER_07

No travel.

SPEAKER_08

Travel.

SPEAKER_07

Travel. And then the next one is the turkey pardon. That is okay. That is not the feast. The wishbone. Watching TV because of the parade. Yeah. Uh then it's helping others.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, hold on. I've got to travel, gotta watch TV and eat before I help somebody.

SPEAKER_07

And then the last one is after the meal. The food is eaten, the dishes are washed. Now it's time to relax. Some families take bike rides, go on walks, or take or take naps. Others play board or card games together. Just spend time together. I don't know a single Southern family that goes for a bike ride after their Thanksgiving meal. Not a single one.

SPEAKER_08

Is that just some non like is that like somebody's like agenda being pushed secretly? Like, how do we get more kids to go on bike rides? Let's write an article. You know that it's an American tradition to ride your bike after eating a meal.

SPEAKER_07

No, it's not. Weird. I just think it's weird that the very first tradition on this list that's the article title is Thanksgiving Traditions. The very first one is travel.

SPEAKER_08

Travel. I guess I don't know why how is it not a tradition, but I do get that people travel to go see family.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, but I wouldn't call it a tradition. Like that's name any long holiday. Any holiday that's longer, that's celebrated for longer than a day, people travel. It's just what it is. It's not a tradition. Yeah, that's just what people do. People like to spend time with family.

SPEAKER_08

That's what I was gonna say. Is like visit family would be a better way of putting it.

SPEAKER_07

Well, but it's not even that because sometimes people do. They go on special trips away from home.

SPEAKER_08

I see what you're saying. But like over the Thanksgiving break. Isn't holidays some of the least busy times at like major theme parks, though? I don't know. It depends, it depends on the holiday. Yeah, I know that that that doesn't fully correlate between like not everybody's gonna travel to Disney, but they you can kind of see the correlation there. If it's busy, people are traveling for it for the holiday.

Theme Parks, Travel, And Crowds

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, I think a lot of I think it depends on your who you are, but a lot of people will go to Disney for Christmas. It's we went to like the least the least packed time of the normal in the normal span of the year, the least crowded time in uh theme parks is like mid-January, early February.

SPEAKER_08

We went to Universal Studios on Labor Day and it was a walk-on on all the rides. So maybe at Universal Studios?

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. In Orlando, right? Yeah. Because they just opened the new park. That's probably what it is. Everybody because there's like for I know at least two weeks after that new park opened. What's the name? What's the name of it again? Epic. Yeah, Epic Universe, right? Right after Epic Universe opened, people were posting videos of like main fairways in Universal Studios were just like three people walking on it. Yeah. You know, so like it was just dead because everybody wanted to go to Epic Universe, which is it's fine.

SPEAKER_08

It's it's a fun time, but it's nothing magical.

SPEAKER_04

Dragons.

SPEAKER_08

That the that that was all that was awesome. That that that and then Harry Potter honestly was the two best themed. Because isn't it an epic universe?

SPEAKER_07

Don't they have the what's the what's the big place? The Ministry of Magic, right? That's what it's like. Oh, yeah. Because I feel like every single Universal Studios park has a section that's Harry Potter. They do. They do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08

It's like one of the biggest properties. Yeah, I guess that's fair. I mean, of course, if you had something that made money, you would use it to make more money.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. I would say the biggest property is probably like a 5,000 acre ranch out in Nevada.

SPEAKER_08

No, like Yellowstone or something like that, you know? How big is Yellowstone? Bigger than a 5,000. I'm gonna say a hundred thousand acres of land.

SPEAKER_07

A hundred thousand acreage?

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

A hundred thousand acres. Yeah. That's what I'm gonna say. All right. I'm committing, even though I'm probably wrong. Let's just I want everyone in your heads or preferably in the comments, real quick. What's the acreage of Yellowstone National Park? Just throw it out there. I've got a quick Yellowstone Google overview. The answer is Yellowstone National Park covers 3,472 square miles, which is equal to about 2.2 million acres. Nailed it. 2.2 acres. 2.2 million acres.

SPEAKER_08

I like how you made it like sound like, oh, you're way over. And that was incredibly under.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I honestly do not know it was that big.

SPEAKER_07

I was like, oh, maybe like a thousand. But uh no, it's way bigger than that. So the answer is Yellowstone for whatever question you have. Yellowstone is the biggest property. The biggest property. Yeah. Bigger than Harry Potter.

SPEAKER_08

You can fit at least three billion Harry Potters in Yellowstone.

SPEAKER_07

We could fit at least a million Harry Potter attractions in Yellowstone.

SPEAKER_08

Coming soon to Yellowstone Park. We're tearing it all down. We're putting down three million Harry Potters, isn't it?

SPEAKER_07

Isn't it? Uh no, let's not do that. That's a national treasure. Unlike that colonializing empirical British nonsense called Harry Potter. So I I brought up apparently National Geographic's biased opinion of what Thanksgiving is. But let's talk about Thanksgiving around the world. What countries sell also have a celebration that they consider Thanksgiving?

SPEAKER_08

I'm gonna say if I had to guess, if I had to, if I had to, if I had to just from the top of my mind, guess Japan. Japan. Wow. Uh what do they call it? They call it. Oh man, I'm this is gonna be awful. Uh Kinro Kansha no hai.

SPEAKER_07

Kinro Kansha no hai?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was reading out, and each word I was like treating it like it wasn't a part of the name. I was like, wait a minute, that seems a little long, but you're right. Kinro Kansha no high.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah. It's Labor Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, it translates to Labor Thanksgiving Day, which takes place November 23rd. This says that it evolved from an ancient rice harvest festival. Do you have that? Mm-hmm. Began as Ni Namase. Ni Namase, an ancient rice rice harvest festival where the emperor offered rice to the gods.

SPEAKER_07

Namaste to you as well. No, thank you.

SPEAKER_08

I'm Christian. Okay. Fair enough. Uh, after World War II, it was reformed into a day celebrating workers' rights and labor appreci appreciation.

SPEAKER_07

That's right. Workers have rights. Even in Japan.

SPEAKER_08

I love how me and you had the same exact joke we were going to make.

SPEAKER_07

That's right. They believe in rights in Japan. Now, finally, finally.

SPEAKER_08

Um so some modern traditions of this is school children make thank you cards for police, firefighters, nurses, and st and sanitation workers. Festivals promoting peace and labor rights. Uh companies and governments hold small appreciation ceremonies. And family the government holds small appreciation ceremonies.

SPEAKER_07

We appreciate you very little. We are obligated to appreciate that you have rights. So we're gonna do a small, small thank you. Maybe some coffee and a bunt cake.

SPEAKER_08

Um, and then families spend like just downtime together.

SPEAKER_07

Because they have a lot of that in Japan, right? Yeah. Families? Families.

SPEAKER_05

Jeez, sorry.

SPEAKER_07

That was that was cold. I shouldn't have said that. Yeah. Food. What do they eat over there?

SPEAKER_08

Uh there's no traditional meal. It's just standard food. It's more about the get together and celebrating, working hard.

SPEAKER_07

I know that from the biases of America, everyone assumes that in Japan, the only things they eat are rice. Are no sushi and ramen noodles. That's what that's what the I would say the average American is like. Oh, yeah, in Japan they just eat sushi and ramen noodles. But they eat more than that. They eat eggs too. I ate real good when I was in Japan. Yeah? Best food ever. Hey, how good did you eat when you were in Japan?

SPEAKER_08

I ate so good that it was good.

SPEAKER_07

Cool. Uh do you want to talk about another country or yeah?

SPEAKER_08

What do you want to throw out?

Japan’s Labor Thanksgiving Day

SPEAKER_07

I threw out Japan. Real quick, I'm gonna I'm gonna do a shout out to Grenada. Grenada. They're about to explode. Grenada discs. No. They celebrate a Thanksgiving celebration on October 25th every year. They do this to as like the reason they do a Thanksgiving celebration is to commemorate the US military invasion where they they invaded Grenada to stop the communists from taking over Grenada. And so because the communists basically did like um a coup and they executed the leaders, the leader at the time, Maurice Bishop, who apparently like everybody loved. Jeez. But uh yeah, they killed him and then they took hostages. And so, and I think what led to the American involvement was there were a bunch of American citizens who were students at a university there who were taken hostage, and so the Americans intervened. Fun fact. Tell me this fun fact the 82nd Airborne was activated to respond in this, and they parachuted in to liberate Grenada. My father was a part of this liberation or this operation, if you will. Operation Urgent Fury.

SPEAKER_08

So you're telling me that your dad brought Thanksgiving to Grenada. Correct.

SPEAKER_07

My father brought Thanksgiving to the island of Grenada, and every year the Grenadins are thankful to my dad. Specifically your dad. Specifically my dad. Johnny the podcaster's father, because he brought freedom and liberty in the American way.

SPEAKER_08

That's right. That's right. I pretend that's an eagle sound.

SPEAKER_07

It would have been funnier if, like, legitimately America just left a bunch of turkeys.

SPEAKER_08

You're welcome. We just want this island to breed our turkeys.

unknown

What?

SPEAKER_08

It's big enough that we can use it as a warehouse for our turkeys. Oh my gosh. A storage island. This is our turkey factory. We're changing you to from Grenada to Goblinada. Goblinada. Goblinada. Um. Alright, so. My next one is Kannada.

SPEAKER_06

Okay, Canada.

SPEAKER_07

You are represented at Epcot. But everyone just walks through you rather quickly. To get to Great Britain.

SPEAKER_08

And Paris. Because they do. Yeah. I I I pass by everything on my way to Japan to get some of the sushi there. See? And also the rice. Mostly the rice. You don't get the pearls?

Grenada’s Thanksgiving And Urgent Fury

SPEAKER_07

You don't get a pearl while you're there? A pearl? Oh, yeah. They have a little pearl, like active pearl oyster case.

SPEAKER_08

Oyster case. I don't know what it's called. I know what you're talking about. No, they have a really they opened up a really good sushi place above that on like the second floor of that building. Okay. It was pretty good when we went. Pretty stinking good. Pretty good. But Kannada, Canada, everybody, just so you know, I'm making jokes here. It happens on the second Monday in October. It is cool seeing that a lot of these that we've talked about so far are relatively in the same time frame, time window. October, November. In the fall. Yeah. Yeah. It was mostly because a lot of these are based around like the harvest. Harvest time.

unknown

Harvest.

SPEAKER_08

Mm-hmm.

unknown

Harvest turkeys.

SPEAKER_08

One of the earliest recorded Thanksgiving services was in 1578 when English explorer Martin Frobisher held a service in Newfoundland after surviving dangerous Arctic travels. Later influenced by European harvest festivals and American traditions. That's for Kannada. You're welcome, Canada. You're welcome. The foods they have is turkey, but often with butter butter tarts. Butter tart.

SPEAKER_05

A little butter tart. Yeah, turkey seems to be a bit of a butter tart.

SPEAKER_08

Uh banock bread and poutine variations. Cranberry sauce made from local bog berries. And maple glazed everything.

SPEAKER_07

Maple is the maple leaf is on the Canadian flag.

SPEAKER_03

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_08

Uh some traditions they have. Nature trips. What is up with these trips? Like, no, you eat and you just become a lard on the couch.

SPEAKER_07

Like I was gonna say, I feel like the most active that I see people after the meal is going to the car to go home. No, like maybe step outside to throw a football. I mean, for our family, it's maybe shoot some guns. Yeah. But we're not really like running around running doing super active stuff.

Canada’s October Thanksgiving

SPEAKER_08

If somebody gets shot, we'll run around, but that's about it. No one gets shot. No one gets shot. All right, it was a bad joke, everybody. They have fall fairs and harvest markets. And only on Thanksgiving. Only on Thanksgiving, yeah. It's probably more like a good tradition for a lot of people to go to those markets. And then very family focused, but less historically heavy than the U.S. version.

SPEAKER_06

Okay.

SPEAKER_08

I guess they eat less, so they're not as heavy.

SPEAKER_07

They're not as obese. That's right. Hey, how many turkeys are you done? Sorry. Are you still going on Canada?

SPEAKER_08

Canada is a s as a country. What? You mean it's on their flag there is a maple leaf.

SPEAKER_07

You mean it's not just the top hat to America?

SPEAKER_08

Another fun fact about Canada is Canadian Thanksgiving is older than the American holiday by over 40 years. Whoa. Alright, now I'm done.

SPEAKER_07

Okay. Um wait a minute. Didn't you say earlier that it was inspired by American Thanksgiving?

SPEAKER_08

No, one of the earliest recording Thanksgiving services was in 1578 in Canada. In Canada. What was the American inspiration thing in your notes? Later influenced by European harvest festivals and American traditions.

SPEAKER_07

The traditions, not the traditions are like round traditions that they do in it, not necessarily the festival traditions. Got it, got it, got it. Okay.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah. But like Thanksgiving as we know it as the commercialized version we have now is older in Canada than it is in America.

SPEAKER_07

The official holiday is older in Canada than America.

SPEAKER_08

Correct. And if we're wrong, correct us in the comments.

SPEAKER_07

How many uh different species of turkeys do you think there are in North America? Three.

SPEAKER_08

Five. You were close. Oh, I was gonna say light meat, uh light meat and white meat, dark meat, and chick and turkey legs.

SPEAKER_07

The Eastern Wild Turkey, Oscaloa or Florida wild turkey, the Merriam's wild turkey, the Rio Grande Wild Turkey, and Gould's wild turkey.

SPEAKER_08

Which one of those five is the traditional chicken to have? That chicken's traditional turkey to have on Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_07

None of them because they're all wild turkeys. Oh, so what are we having then? Whatever breed they in bulk.

SPEAKER_08

I don't I can't remember what the man, if only you had something that would allow you to figure it out. A little peek behind the curtain. John's the one with the production laptop.

SPEAKER_07

Common meat turkey breed. Broad-breasted white. Broad-breasted white. Is the most common turkey breed raised for commercial meat production due to its efficient growth and high meat yield. Where do those stem from? Like, where's like the arc? I don't know.

SPEAKER_05

Come on.

SPEAKER_07

There are heritage breeds. There's the bourbon red, standard bronze, and the narrogacent. So the broad-breasted is gonna be like it's gonna be interbred from different breeds.

SPEAKER_08

So they are specifically for consumption. Yeah. Their life, their life's purpose is to feed us.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, selective breeding created the broad-breasted white. Gotcha. That's not it's not something that happens naturally. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, it happens naturally now, but I'm just saying that you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_08

It didn't happen natural naturally. Correct.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08

Do you think you know one of the American traditions we well, you know what? Let's get into America's traditions real quick, because I have a question.

SPEAKER_07

Okay.

SPEAKER_08

And you know what? As an American, I have an answer. Okay. It is, by the way, in my notes, the fourth Thursday in November.

Turkey Breeds And Food Talk

SPEAKER_07

Okay. So good to know.

SPEAKER_08

It's loosely inspired by 1621 harvest gatherings between English pilgrims and Wampanoag tribal members. Wampanaog. That's right. Wampanoag. Officially standardized by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 as a national day of thanks to God during the Civil War. It was originally deeply in religious in tone. Traditional foods, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries. Press press the button. No, the other one. Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, green bean carrassa roll.

SPEAKER_07

Carrasseroll. Green bean carrasserl. Carrasserl. Uh macaroni and cheese. Mm-hmm. Mashed potatoes. Deviled eggs. We call them angeled eggs. Redeemed eggs. Redeemed eggs. We're reformed, y'all.

SPEAKER_08

Traditions. We have uh, you know, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Sometimes some people have the Friendsgiving where they get together with friends.

SPEAKER_07

Yep. I have a question for you. Yes. Because I asked this to my wife the other day. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is on TV every Thanksgiving morning. Yep. Immediately following it, every single year. It's the best tradition. Is the dog show. Yep. Why? Why is that a Thanksgiving event? I don't know.

SPEAKER_08

Have you ever actually sat down and watched it?

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. Well, because it just comes on afterwards and we're just sitting around waiting to eat. Yeah. So because certain people in the family that we go to, they don't allow other people in the kitchen while they're cooking. So you just kind of sit around until it's ready. But uh yeah, so it's just on, so we just watch it. But it's every single year. Yeah.

unknown

Why?

SPEAKER_08

Why? I don't know. I look it up and see when it first started. Because everybody loves their fur babies so much in America, I guess. Yeah, it's this weird thing. Is like why do we have the American dog show? I watched it maybe once or twice, but like when's the last time you watched the parade? Uh last year. Oh yeah. I haven't I haven't watched it in years. Yeah, we watch it every year. My wife loves it. But uh yeah, I think Goku is gonna be in the parade. Oh Goku?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Wow, what an American treasure. I know, right?

SPEAKER_08

I wonder how many of those properties that come across during the parade, how many of them are not American properties.

SPEAKER_07

Yes. You know what? You know what we're thankful for as a nation? Japanese anime.

SPEAKER_08

A few more traditions, um, Black Friday prep.

SPEAKER_07

Which is a joke now because they started Black Baraking. They started baracking Friday deals a week ago.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah. It's like because of the uh invention of Amazon and other uh because of the cult classic Amazon, like other like you know, big store online stores, Black Friday has become a joke. Yeah. Like I've went once and it wasn't crazy.

SPEAKER_07

Well, I remember growing up, Black Friday was such an extreme thing to the point where people were dying. Yeah. And and then the internet purchase, the internet market, if you will, marketplace, yeah, became so big and they started doing Cyber Monday, and they're like, why are we waiting until Monday? Let's do Black Friday deals on the internet as well. Yeah. And now it's it's all that. Like you going into a store on Black Friday doesn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, you're kind of dumb if you wait to Black Friday now if you're looking for a deal. Idiot! Well, I mean, like like like like you're saying, like all the deals are out there, like more than likely your prices are not going to drop. The only bigger one is Cyber Monday.

SPEAKER_07

I can hear someone in the comments now. When I decide to go shopping, does not determine my IQ.

SPEAKER_08

I am not stupid. I am an autonomous intellectual. And tell me how much did you pay for that TV? Um full price.

SPEAKER_07

Do you even collect coupons? Karen.

SPEAKER_08

So how many coupons are you clipping, Karen?

SPEAKER_07

Oh, the internet.

SPEAKER_08

And then I don't remember the last time we really watched football on TV, like for Thanksgiving. I feel like it's always on, but no one pays attention. Growing up, it was like a big deal. And now it's just like it's just kind of on in the room.

SPEAKER_07

My family was not a big football family.

SPEAKER_08

Oh, let me hold on, let me do it. Let me do it real quick. Uh and the last tradition is NFL football. Wow.

SPEAKER_07

Okay. That was great. Yeah. Uh yeah, my family was not a big uh football family. So we didn't really watch football.

SPEAKER_08

You know who's the big football fan in my family? You wouldn't be able to guess it. Uh, the ceiling fan? Yeah. My grandmother is the biggest football fan of anybody. Actually, I think I knew that.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Obviously, I didn't know it that well because I didn't say it. You should have said it. You should have said something, John. You should have said something.

SPEAKER_08

She's also a very frequent listener of the podcast.

SPEAKER_07

So hey, grandmother. Some I hi, grandmother. Some might say she's the number one fan. She is the number one fan. Should we do a poll?

SPEAKER_08

See who's see who's the number one fan. But you you have to recommend somebody else who you think's the number one fan, and you can't recommend yourself or nominate yourself.

SPEAKER_07

It is Hiro Takashimi. From Japan.

unknown

From Japan.

SPEAKER_07

No, I don't know. Whoever is our Japanese listener. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening. We're thankful for you. And we are happy that you get to celebrate every year. What's the name of that tradition? The Kinro Kanchi no hai.

SPEAKER_05

Sorry. Kinro Kanchi Nohai.

SPEAKER_08

That's very offensive the way you said that.

SPEAKER_07

That was the original festival that I draft from. All you did was shout. Why are you sho- I just go to Japan and try to speak Japanese and they're like, Why are you shouting at me?

SPEAKER_08

So when I went to Japan, how many people do you think shouted at me as they spoke? Um, not a lot. None. Zero.

SPEAKER_07

They were very uh keep to themselves kind of people.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah. If they did speak to me, they would shout.

SPEAKER_07

The trick was just getting them to talk to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I'd walk up to someone and say, hello, and they wouldn't say anything back.

SPEAKER_08

It's probably because I was speaking English to them. Yeah. You got a uh you got another country?

Black Friday Then And Now

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. The Netherlands. The Nethers. People don't realize this, but actually the festival that the Puritans celebrated with the native Wampanoag tribe derived from their time spent in the Deutschland in the city of Leiden. They the Puritans left England because of the oppression of the king, spent some time in the got lost trying to go to America. Took a wrong turn, argued over if they needed to stop for directions or not.

SPEAKER_08

They had to have to have a couple of bathroom breaks. But they were creating that first main Thanksgiving tradition of travel.

SPEAKER_07

Yep. But yeah, they they uh they celebrated, they did a like a thankful festival when they stayed in Leyden for like I think it was like a decade. They were there for like almost a decade. And then due to this, that, and the other, they they made the trip over to America. This article says, I'll just read it. You can find this on thehistory.com. Don't believe it though. It's sometimes forgotten that of the English settlers who traveled to the new world, that's where we live. America. America. Remember that you guys, we're the new world. Uh on the Mayflower, some 40% spent the years 1609 to 1620 living and working in the Dutch city of Leyden. As a result, some have claimed that the pilgrims' first Thanksgiving celebration was actually inspired by Leyden's annual commemoration of the breaking of the Spanish siege in 1574. In any case, the people of today's Leyden continue to celebrate their ties with the Mayflowers passengers by holding non-denominational church services on the fourth Thursday of November. Why did you read it like that? I was just trying to mix it up. It's very condescending. Well, maybe I don't like people from the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_08

Maybe I have a problem with Western Europeans. Whenever I talk like that, that means I don't like that country. Maybe I have some built-up animosity against the Dutch. All right, you want to get into Germany? Sure. Germany.

SPEAKER_05

Let's talk about Germans for a minute.

SPEAKER_08

What's uh what's some of their traditions?

SPEAKER_05

I don't know.

SPEAKER_07

Oh, in Leyden?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

Leiden Connections And The Netherlands

SPEAKER_07

There's not a lot. All they do is they have a like, they commemorate. It's not really like their Thanksgiving. It's more of it's more of a like, hey, we commemorate the festival that the Puritans celebrated while they were here. So we do a non-denominational church service and we have coffee and cookies. So nothing big or special. Nothing big. It's just a commemoration. Like Boxing Day. Yeah. Like Boxing Day. What is Boxing Day? That was just something I said. That's the day after Christmas Day. That's December. So you throw out all your boxes? Or you take everything back.

SPEAKER_08

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_07

That you didn't want to.

SPEAKER_08

Please provide the gifts receipt.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. We need to when we get to the Christmas season, we are going to talk about the 12 days of Christmas, though. Because I feel like as Americans, the only thing we know is the song. We overlook the fact that traditionally Amer uh Christmas is a 12-day celebration.

SPEAKER_08

You want to release an episode leading up a day? One episode a day?

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. The 12 days of Christmas? Yeah. Seems like a lot of work for you. Yeah, let's not do it. I'm just talking. You're the one that has to post it every single day.

SPEAKER_08

Edit it. Edit it. Post it. Make us sound good. Fun fact if you are sitting here in person with John, he sounds awful. Mm-hmm. And then I edit the podcast and make him sound good. That's right.

SPEAKER_07

I sound that's exactly what you sound like. Yeah. That's all I've got.

SPEAKER_08

I was like, I've got some more. I've got some more sounds. You like and hear. We prepped like two sounds for this episode. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

I didn't I didn't do a whole lot on the sound effects, but uh I figured that's all I needed to do was punch one button.

SPEAKER_08

So one button and it just magically does what you need it to.

SPEAKER_07

Home run.

SPEAKER_08

You just keep pressing the same button.

SPEAKER_07

Yep.

SPEAKER_08

Germany.

SPEAKER_07

Germans. Alright. I flyen. No, it's uh Erkenst Oberfest. Not Oberfest. Erkens Erkans I don't remember. How do you say it?

SPEAKER_08

It's Erten and Confest. Erten and Confest. Harvest Thanksgiving Festival.

Germany’s Erntedankfest

SPEAKER_07

To our German listener, correct us.

SPEAKER_08

Please let us know how it's said it wrong. Let us know.

SPEAKER_07

Uh also thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, thanks. Hey, we're thankful for you. Did we thank everybody in Canada? And did we think because we thought we don't we're not thankful for them. I'm thankful for you in Canada. I'm just kidding. John doesn't. Thanks, Canadians. We love you. We love you, Kannada. Kanada. We love you, can't uh. Oh God. Got them. Jeez. Uh when, hey, when do you think Germany celebrates Thanksgiving? Late September or early October. Because you're looking at your notes. Yep. Rooted in Christian and agricultural traditions. Agricultural. That's what I said. Agricultural. Rooted in Christian and agricultural traditions from the 1700s, celebrating God's provision. Amen. Some traditions are church services featuring donated produce. Hmm, what's this word? Erntekron? It's Er Erntekrone, harvest crown woven from wheat, grapes, and grains.

unknown

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Erninkron.

SPEAKER_08

Or Urtenkron. Uh they have parades with harvest wagons, Christian hymns and prayers. Country towns sometimes release balloons filled with prayers.

SPEAKER_07

I really want to know how to actually pronounce Ernton Dunkinfest. There you go. You said it. Ernt Dunkin Dunkfest. Ernt Ern Dunkfest.

SPEAKER_08

We used to do that balloon thing for vacation Bible school every year.

unknown

What?

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, where you go release release balloons with the flyers of the vacation Bible school. Essentially, you would give somebody some uh tra news from the sky. Good news. It'd just be What does that have to do with what I just said? Because the country towns sometimes release balloons filled with prayers. Oh.

SPEAKER_07

I thought you were talking about uh um yeah, learning how to pronounce a word. We used to make balloons at church. I was like, how what does that have to do with pronunciation? God. It has to do with God.

SPEAKER_08

Ernte Dankfest. They don't eat turkey. Do you know that? More regional foods like sausages, breads, and fresh harvest vegetables. Do they even have turkeys in Germany? Mm-mm. They do? Yes, the small breasted. What was the what was it? The medium-sized breast. Medium-sized breasted tan turkey.

SPEAKER_04

What the heck?

SPEAKER_08

In some areas they bake special harvest bread, and they have wine festivals tied into grape harvest.

SPEAKER_07

I don't think that they have turkeys in Germany. I'm just gonna say it.

SPEAKER_08

Look it up. I think they have three different types of turkeys in Germany.

SPEAKER_07

Does Germany have? Actually came up turkeys. Yes! Germany has both wild and domesticated turkeys with established wild populations in certain areas and domesticated turkeys available for sale. Wow. Now let's find out how many How many different?

SPEAKER_06

How many different wild turkey species? I almost spelled species spices. Spicy.

SPEAKER_07

Come on, AI, don't fail me now. Every day we're AI and there are no native wild turkey species in Germany. But the thing before said it there was. Wild turkeys are native to North America, while domestic turkeys may be present in Germany. The wild species, such as the eastern wild turkey, oscillated turkey, and others, do not have a natural habitat there.

SPEAKER_08

Alright, here's your lesson for the day. Don't believe what you read on the internet. Ditch Google go Mozilla Firefox. I was gonna say Ditch Google and learn everything from the Saints That Serve podcast. Yeah, where we figure it out. We might be wrong, but as long as you pretend we're right, we'll be right. Alright, what country do you have for us?

SPEAKER_04

That's all I had.

SPEAKER_07

That's all the countries you had? Yeah. Man, I can't I mean I did a little bit of research on Brazil.

SPEAKER_03

Mm-hmm.

unknown

And I don't even remember how long I mean.

SPEAKER_07

Because they call it something else. They celebrate it in uh November. They call it something in Portuguese.

SPEAKER_08

Awesome. What is that?

SPEAKER_07

Alright, great job, man. So much work to prepare this episode for us. We're so proud of you. You're our favorite podcast host. Except that one guy listening hates you. That one that one Canadian guy. I don't know, man. I don't know what to tell you. I can't find facts.

SPEAKER_08

I want facts.

SPEAKER_07

Do you have anything on Brazil? Because it's probably better than what I got.

SPEAKER_08

Brazil. Dia de A uh de Gracias.

unknown

What?

SPEAKER_08

Gracias. Um Graces. Hold on. Here's your fact. Here you go, John. Wow, you got stuff on Brazil now.

SPEAKER_07

Dia de Accio de Gracios. Day of Grace. It's the fourth Thursday of November. Just like us. Yep. Introduced in 1949 by the ambassador of Brazil who loved American Thanksgiving. Promoted by evangelical churches in Brazil, blends American and Brazilian cultural elements. Their traditions are church gatherings emphasizing gratitude to God, worship services, and choir concerts. Some families hold big meals similar to the U.S., parades and community events in some cities. Wow. And then foods, turkey or chicken, ferrofa, toasted cassava flour, Brazilian style stuffing. What makes it Brazilian style? Because it was done in Brazil. Tropical fruits and pastries. Uh my wife got a test drive stuffing. We did a uh mock Thanksgiving meal weeks ago. Just testing out some Yeah, testing out different stuff. But she got this Hawaiian themed stuffing. And it tastes like pineapples. That was it. Not really anything else in it. Uh thanks to Brazil's climate, many families eat cold dishes and tropical fruit salads on Thanksgiving. Yummy, yummy. Fruit. That was what I was about to do. Fruit salad!

SPEAKER_05

Yummy yummy.

Korea’s Chuseok Harvest Customs

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. I think that's everything for Brazil? Wow. Did you know that they speak Portuguese in Brazil and not Spanish? Not Brazilian? No, they don't speak Brazilian in Brazil. Brazilian? How many is that?

SPEAKER_05

That seems like a pretty big number.

SPEAKER_07

Brazilian. How long would it take one person to count to a Brazilian? Wait, say the joke again. How long would it take somebody to count to a Brazilian? I guess the amount the the plane flight. What? How long would it take for someone to count to a Brazilian?

SPEAKER_08

Oh, because they're counting to a Brazilian.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Yeah, that's a funny joke, question. It wasn't funny at all. I'm real funny. No. I'm a funny guy. You're fired. You should quit and go be a professional. Yeah, I'm gonna do stand up comedy. Tell us a joke right now. Okay.

SPEAKER_07

Uh knock knock. Who's there? Jarrus. Jaris who? You forgot your own last name?

SPEAKER_04

What an idiot.

SPEAKER_07

Sorry. You're not an idiot. You're beautiful and brave. So so brave and passionate and bold. You know, so I didn't make a comment on your intellect though. Because I'm not smart on it, and you said it on me. I'm sorry. You are a smart guy, smarter than me.

SPEAKER_08

Who edits this podcast every single week, except for the two weeks we skipped it?

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. Well, that's why I said you're smarter than me. Yep. Because all I can do is solve world hunger. All you can do is count to Brazilian. All I can do is count to a Brazilian. Oh man. All right. Korea. Oh, I'm gonna hustle. Go ahead. That's how you say hello.

SPEAKER_08

Oh, okay. Korean. It's the 15th day of the eighth lunar moon. Usually late September. Ah, late September, yes. Yes, yes. Yes, yes. Yes, the eighth lunar moon. The eighth lunar moon, of course. Yes, yes, of course. Um, rooted in ancient harvest celebration. Uh, moon worship.

SPEAKER_05

Ew!

SPEAKER_08

Gross, false gods.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. You worship the moon? Gross.

SPEAKER_08

And family unity. Oh, that's not so bad. Unless they're trying to unite for a bunch of moon worshippers. They're all on the moon. That's why they worship the moon.

SPEAKER_07

Is this South Korea or North Korea Thanksgiving?

SPEAKER_08

Mmm. Jeez. I'm gonna say yes. Alright. Their traditions are char year. Family set elaborate tables of food to honor ancestors. Uh. Visiting ancestral That's dumb. Visiting ancestral hometowns. Okay. Cleaning ancestral graves.

SPEAKER_07

You know why my family can't visit ancestral hometowns? Because they're not welcome back. No, because the Yankees burned them all down.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, jeez.

SPEAKER_07

Just uh fun fact for everyone who doesn't know American history. We're southern. We're southern, and everything was burnt to a crisp.

SPEAKER_08

Folk games like Tug of War and Archery with your ancestors? Wait, how do you do archery?

SPEAKER_07

How do you tug of war with your ancestors? On the moon.

SPEAKER_08

Well, the moon god comes down. That's why we pray to it. Or moon worship, yeah. That's why they moon worship to get the ancestors to come down to play tug of war.

SPEAKER_07

How does one worship the moon? By playing tug of war? Playing tug of war.

SPEAKER_08

They lasso a rope around the moon. I'm gonna get you. And what's the quote from uh you want the moon?

SPEAKER_04

Oh what do you what do you want? You want the moon? I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down out of the sky.

SPEAKER_07

It's from It's a Wonderful Life. Yeah, we'll talk about that. Coming to a theater near you.

SPEAKER_08

Coming to a podcast platform near you next week.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08

Next week is the beginning of joyful season.

Faith, Idolatry, And True Worship

SPEAKER_07

That is correct. Also known as nativity season. Are we changing it from joyful to nativity now? No, we uh we don't have to. But I do want to put an emphasis on Christ. Right now? Go ahead and do it right now.

SPEAKER_08

Uh Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. The moon is not. That's right. The sun is. See what I did there? Son of God. The son of God. Not the literal sun.

SPEAKER_07

S-O-N, fellas. Which atheists will try to use as an argument against, and some Christians will use as an argument against Christmas. They'll say it was just the Romans trying to replace their festival to the sun god by putting it as Jesus' birth.

SPEAKER_03

Hmm.

SPEAKER_07

And maybe that is so, but we changed to focusing on an idol to focusing on Christ. Yeah. So what's the problem?

SPEAKER_08

Tell me, atheists. That's the problem. Yeah. Oh, atheists.

SPEAKER_07

How dare they? I would argue that there's no such thing as a true atheist.

SPEAKER_08

Because to be an atheist is to believe something, and the idea of atheism is to believe in nothing. Well. Hold on, let me am I wrong?

SPEAKER_07

Uh because what is what is because athe uh atheists, a person who disbelieves in the existence of God or gods. We want to say that we believe that we don't believe. I take back my statement. I guess there is a possibility of someone being an atheist, but as a Christian, I put idolatry into everything. And so I say if you do not believe in the true God who created all things, you're believing in and worshiping another God. Yeah. And it can manifest in the form of materialism or intellect or pride or gluttony or sensuality, whatever it is. Anything you put before God. Anything that is set up to replace the God, the only God.

SPEAKER_08

And that is including the idea that there is no God. You're worshiping that idea.

SPEAKER_07

Well, but that's what I'm saying is they'll they'll not necessarily they're worshiping that idea, but we were we were created to be worshippers of God. And so it's in our DNA to worship. And that's why it was such a problem. Like Israel was so willing to, in the Old Testament, so willing to grab onto different gods and idols and worship them. Because as humanity, we are going to worship something. But we're told by God, He's the only God. There is no other. So our worship should be directed to him. Because if it's not directed to him, then it is a then our worship is now a mockery of creation. Yeah. And what he created us to be and to do. Because we were created to worship him. So when we worship something else, we're mocking the original creation design by the creator. Yep. So atheists will worship things, they won't put the term worship on it because that sounds too spiritual. But the reality is we all worship something. But if it's not God, the creator of the universe, the one and true God, then it is a mockery of his original design. Yep. Because fun fact, Christians are thankful. Yeah. No, I was gonna say in the Roman world at the beginning, they were con they were considered atheists because they only worship one God and they didn't practice polytheism like everybody else in the world. Interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08

So yeah. So as we close this episode out, I want to say I'm thankful for my wife.

SPEAKER_07

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah. She's great. She's wonderful. She's beautiful. And she's uh I'm thankful that she puts up with me and my shenanigans. That's great. I'm also thankful for my little puppy. She's my puppy.

SPEAKER_07

Hey, here you go.

SPEAKER_08

Yep. And my family, you, the show. Praise the Lord. But mostly my wife and my dog.

Personal Gratitude And Family Focus

SPEAKER_07

Well, I'm also thankful for you. I'm very thankful for my family. The Lord has definitely opened my eyes this year to the importance of the time that we have left in this life. When we die, we go to be with him, and and life will be different. It won't be like what we have here. Here we have the opportunity to reflect Christ and reveal the hope that is only found in Christ to others around us. Once we go to heaven, that hope is fulfilled and Christ is manifest. So there's no we don't necessarily need to reflect him anymore because he'll be present. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so we have a real opportunity to show the love of Christ and to show the hope of Christ to our loved ones, to the people around us. So my perspective on my family this year has been shifted to that like, hey, it's really easy to be like, oh, I I've heard them talk about God, or oh, I've heard them say that they're a Christian, or oh, I've heard them whatever, whatever. So they're good. But it's like, no, for my sons, I'm their discipler. I should be showing the love of Christ and the hope of Christ. To them daily. And the same goes for my wife. I should be showing the love of Christ and the hope of Christ to my wife daily. So I am very thankful for my family, and my perspective has shifted. And rather than just existing and focusing on my own salvation, I need to be looking to show the love of Christ to my immediate family and then also the people around me. So I'm thankful for the opportunity to show the love of Christ to the people around me as well. Yeah. And with that, I want to end the episode with a ridiculous hypothetical question.

SPEAKER_08

Oh my gosh. Has nothing to do with this. This is an awful transition. We talked about this briefly. This is a like do some sort of filter between talking about God and what you're about to talk about. Okay. Tell another joke.

SPEAKER_07

Well, uh before I do the let's then before I do the hypothetical, if you do not see Christ as your Lord and Savior, but you would like to know more, you should reach out to us. And we would love to show you how Christ is the light of the world, and He came down to help us see that we need God the Creator, and that without God the Creator as our God, we will give in to bitterness, hopelessness, anxiety, depression, fear, whatever. And we will use coping mechanisms like addiction, like gluttony, like self-vanity to get through life. But we were created to worship the creator of the universe, and that looks like joy and peace and happiness, and that only comes through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. So if you'd like to know more, you should reach out to us.

SPEAKER_08

Comment section, SaintsThatserve at gmail.com, John's cell phone number, which is uh yeah.

Invitation To Learn About Christ

SPEAKER_07

So you need to know all that. Know that this hypothetical question has nothing to do with what we just talked about with God. It is silly and a little gross.

SPEAKER_08

So if you feel like you don't like gross things, then episode now. Uh Christ is the Lord and the kingdom is now, we are the saints to serve. Uh now here we go. Okay. Hypothetical.

SPEAKER_07

The only thing in existence, it is that's it. Like there's three items. There's only three items on existence. Am I an item? It is you yourself as the person. For everyone listening, this applies to yours, just apply it to yourself. So it is you, your favorite food in a ziploc bag. Right. What brand? So I guess it would be four items because it's a ziploc bag, your favorite item of food. What what brand of ziploc bag?

SPEAKER_08

The best. The best zip sealed, perfectly sealed?

SPEAKER_07

Correct. Okay, that's important. And then completely surrounding and on top of and encasing the Ziploc bag, which is encasing your favorite food, is a pile of poop. Do you, with no judgment or social standards of our world or our peers, or humanity, no pressure? It's just you, and no one will know that you have done this. Do you take your favorite food out of that ziploc bag and eat it? Even though the Ziploc bag is covered in poop? Yes. You do? Yes. Okay, listeners, let us know. Will you eat the clean, fresh favorite food article coming out of the poop covered bag? Or will you still refrain from eating your favorite food?

Closing And Silly Hypothetical

SPEAKER_08

Well, is it my only source of nourishment in this void?

SPEAKER_07

But that's the deal. Does nourishment exist? You tell me you made up this world. Only thing in existence is you, your favorite kind of food, a Ziploc bag that is encasing your favorite kind of food, and the poop that is encasing the Ziploc bag. Whose poop is this? Yours. Okay. It's a vicious cycle.

SPEAKER_08

The food reanimates. All right, we're ending this episode right now. This is we're over. This is answer, put in the comment section your answer. Would you eat the food? Would you or would you not eat the food? Christ is Lord and the kingdom is known.

SPEAKER_07

We are the same sense of her.